Flightless Bird
by SacredJules
Summary: To what lengths would you go to claim justice for a friend - a family member? Follow Raven as she goes against everything she believes in to avenge the life Roy had ripped away from him. Picks up after JLA: Cry For Justice #7. WARNING: Spoilers.
1. Prologue: Vengeance Had

**Prologue: Vengeance Had**

**A/N: I own nothing save my own original ideas. All recognizable characters and places belong to DC and their respective creators. Enjoy.**

"H…? …How did you-?" There was no answer save for the soft _thwip_ of the arrow being loosed from the bow to land squarely in the center of Prometheus' forehead, burrowing deep despite the armored helmet that protected his head.

Cold, fearsome blue eyes watched the villain fall, his eyes ablaze with the same thing that drove his questionable actions. "Justice," he spat. By the time the villain fell face forward, dead, Oliver Queen was already turning on his boot heel and walking towards the exit.

The light blinded him for a moment, and he blinked slowly to accustom his eyes to the transition, and when he did, he realized how unnatural his companion looked here. Just beyond the in-between dimension, in this place of brilliant light, she was nothing but darkness and shadow, save for brilliant indigo eyes that seemed to glow beneath her hood.

They narrowed on him immediately, and the ever-monotonous voice issued out from somewhere beneath the violet cloak, "Is it done?"

His piercing gaze flicked over her form through the green mask, and he inwardly sighed that it had come to this. A half demon she was, but when she'd first appeared in their world, she had been a pacifist. Now, he'd just made her an accomplice to cold-blooded murder, no matter that it was to avenge his family…_her_ family, and she'd gone along willingly. She'd _offered_ her aid. He should have turned her down.

It was a long moment before he answered. "Yeah. Yeah, it's done, Raven. Take us home, and then go do your thing. And for God's sake, be careful."


	2. Chapter One:  Reunions

**Chapter One: Reunions**

It had been thirty-four days, and each day was just as hard as the first.

It had been Dinah who had broken the news to him, twelve days after Star City had been shaken to its core and nearly destroyed. He had been in a coma for nearly two weeks at that point, his arm severed at the bicep by an enemy posing as a friend. Dinah sat at his side, his left hand clasped safely between hers, eyes wide and brimming with tears, while his closest friends stood at her back.

Dick, his best friend for over a decade, stoic and ever the shoulder to cry on, hadn't been able to bear meeting his eyes, but he'd seen the way his friend's jaw clenched as he fought back his own grieving, probably in some fucked up bid to spare Roy the sight of his grieving. Wally looked tired and haunted and meeting his old teammate's eyes, gazing into the depths of his hopelessness, had shaken Roy just as assuredly as the sight of Donna, a woman he'd once thought to be the love of his life, crying quietly on the speedster's shoulder with her eyes red and swollen, had.

Roy didn't erupt as many expected him to as Dinah, for all intents and purposes his mother, began to recount the horror that no one would ever recover completely from. He'd listened silently, as she told him the story of how he'd lost his right arm to Prometheus, in the very place the Justice League took sanctuary, and then of his little girl's last hours in this world. She had told him how it had been she and Ollie to find Lian amidst the rubble of Star City, and it wasn't until then that Roy's mask of calm faltered, and he asked everyone to leave the room in a gruff voice.

They all granted the request, though Dinah and Donna sorely looked like they wanted to remain behind. In the end, they'd budged, allowing Roy time to let his composure fall away as he ripped the needles and sensors from his body, throwing and breaking the monitors that dared beep at him against the walls, and sobbed for the child, his world, that had been ripped away from him.

A few hours later, they had returned to find Roy staring down at his re-attached arm, flawless except for a thin white line of scarring that ran the circumference of his bicep. There had been something slightly off about it, and it had taken him a while to figure it out. It was smaller than his left arm, the muscle mass not matching that of the arm that had remained undamaged. He had looked up at Dinah with swollen, red-rimmed eyes, and cleared his throat before he'd been able to speak.

"How…?"

Dinah inhaled shakily, dying inside to see her son in such a state, and still mourning the loss of Lian, before she replied in a breathy voice. "Raven. She grew the limb back while you were in the coma. She mentioned that it would probably take considerable physical rehabilitation before you gained full use of it, but..."

Dinah had watched as her son's brow had furrowed, as if he were confused about her answer.

"…Rae?"

She nodded silently, and attempted to control the emotions that flooded her voice. "She was here for six days; she never left your side. We couldn't get her to eat or sleep. She just watched you, and made sure you were healing in whatever way she deemed appropriate, I suppose." Her tone reflected the concern she had obviously felt at the woman's refusal to take sustenance or rest until she was somehow assured that Roy would pull through. While the women were nothing that could be called close, there was a mutual respect on behalf of Roy. They both loved him deeply, and knew that, if he loved the other, she must have some redeeming qualities.

Roy looked up at Dinah then, an emotion that looked suspiciously like hope shimmering in the depths of his eyes. His mother figure shook her head adamantly, immediately surmising what was on his mind. "She can't make this better for you, Roy. She can't take the pain away. And really, is that how you want to deal with…with losing…Lian?"

He had hung his head, appropriately ashamed at the morbid hope that he could have convinced Rachel to take all of his pain away, to numb him to the soul-wrenching loss that squeezed his heart. "Where is she?"

When Dinah hadn't responded, Roy had looked up at her with his brow furrowed.

"…We don't know. No one has seen or heard from Raven in six days. The Titans and Teen Titans have not been able to raise her on her communicator, and the public hasn't had sight of her, either."

x-x

It had been forty-six days since Lian's death, and forty days since Rachel Roth had been seen. Lian Harper's funeral had been a grim, dismal affair, made all the worse by the worry hanging in the air surrounding another of their own, and her unknown fate. As they laid Roy Harper's little girl to rest, amid gasping tears declaring that she'd been too young to be taken from the earth, they all silently prayed that they wouldn't soon be laying another of their own to rest.

After the first two weeks of Rachel's disappearance, the Teen Titans had begun losing hope, but her family hadn't. Those that knew Raven from the moment she'd taken on their cause and decided to fight the good fight – Dick, Donna, Kory, Victor, Wally, and Roy – were still convinced that she was out there, though they had no idea what would possess her to lose touch so completely, during such a volatile time. A few in the super hero community whispered that she was indeed possessed, an occurrence that was not unfamiliar when dealing with the half-demon girl, and that it was only a matter of time before she reappeared with too many eyes. Glares from the new Batman, the Titans, and surprisingly Green Arrow, shut those rumors up before they became too widely spread.

Garfield didn't know what to believe. He expressed hope that she was alive, but at the prospect of her being so, he became immediately and intensely angry. If she was alive and purposely keeping out of touch, he was unsure of his reaction. If she were alive, all of the worry was for nothing, and the idea absolutely infuriated the changeling. Roy had to admit that he agreed with Gar. They had all been through enough after Prometheus' attack and Lian's death, and having Rachel vanish had frayed too many nerves beyond repair. Donna constantly kept herself awake for days on end, keeping a vigil in the satellite of the Justice League, watching for any sign of her lost teammate. And Dick…he spent too many hours mimicking his predecessor – brooding for hours on end in what he insisted was meditation. He was attempting to feel Raven through their unique empathic bond, and thus far, his many attempts had been useless.

x-x

Thirty-four days after Roy Harper had woken up to the worst day of his life, his friend reappeared through a portal in the living room of his father's house. Her unmistakable figure emerged from the inky black pool that was her distinctive method of transportation – costumed and hooded so that only her glowing white eyes were visible beneath her hood – and her head swiveled as she glanced around, immediately alert of her surroundings.

Roy, who had been sitting in the living room with Ollie discussing Roy's future living situation, stared at the woman for a long moment, his brow furrowing and awaiting a for a sound to emerge from Raven's mouth. When she said nothing, he turned to glance at Oliver, his anger quickly rising, but Ollie just raised his hands in surrender, rose from the couch, and retreated quickly from the room. When Roy's gaze slid back to Raven, she was just pushing the hood from her head to reveal her face, and he took a moment to breathe a silent sigh of relief that there were only two eyes in her pale, delicate face. And then he got furious as she blinked at him with a lightly arched dark brow and a curve of her lips that bordered on an amused smirk. Did she think this was funny?

He stood, and stalked across the short distance separating them until his large hands gripped the tops of her shoulders none-too-gently, and he all but growled, "Where the fuck have you been?" He nearly let her go when wrinkles of distress appeared in her forehead, but he didn't, and shook her when she showed no signs of answering. "You vanish for over a month and you can't even give me an explanation? We were worried sick, Rae, and dealing with losing…with losing…" He trailed off and separated himself from her before he did something stupid in his anger, like shake her slender body too roughly, or push her away from him.

"While I am glad to see that your strength has returned to your right arm…Month?" she asked softly, and he looked up to see her brilliant amethyst eyes narrowed intensely on his.

He cursed vehemently beneath his breath, and nodded. "A _month_, Rae. Where the hell were you?"

She shook her head, a blatant look of disconcerted confusion upon her fine features. "I was in Azarath. I needed to separate myself so that I could grieve…safely. I knew that I had lost time in meditation, but…" A deep sigh heaved from her lungs as she winced suddenly. "I apologize deeply for my prolonged absence, Roy. It's been so long that I forgot that time in Azarath passes differently than it does here on Earth."

His eyes closed and clenched shut at her admittance that she felt the need to separate herself so that she could grieve safely, away from anyone whose emotions she could influence with her own. He took several deep breaths to calm himself, and calm the anger that was already quickly abating, but his eyes snapped open and focused on her when he heard the unmistakable sound of a sniffle.

When she spoke, however, Rachel's voice was as tightly controlled as ever. "I am sorry, Roy. I am sorry I was not there to save her. I should have been there helping." She cleared her throat and looked away, but not before Roy caught the tears brightening her already vivid eyes.

He grabbed her hand and yanked her into a hug, wrapping his large arms around her petite frame so completely that nearly the entire upper half of her body was enveloped against his chest. "Shut up, Rae," he said thickly, swallowing a huge lump in his throat. "I've been told by various people that I'm not allowed to blame myself, and if I'm denied that privilege, you are, too."

They stood there for long minutes like that, with his arms wrapped around her shoulders, and her arms tentatively winding themselves around his waist, until he finally managed to ask if she was alright. She pulled away long enough to look up at him, and she shook her head. "I only came here to let you know that…" She glanced up as Ollie strode into the room with a grim set to his features, and glanced at the two embracing in the middle of his living room before his eyes focused on Rachel.

"I take it you've heard, Raven?"

Rachel shook her head, the tip of her nose rubbing against Roy's t-shirt in the process, before he looked down at her, his eyes twinkling slightly at the sight of her appearing almost normal. "Heard what?" he asked his father, though his gaze never left his friend's.

"…Prometheus' body was found yesterday. He's dead, and it was an apparent homicide."

Roy's eyes widened in shock, and his chin jerked in his father's direction, completely oblivious to his friend going utterly stiff in his embrace. "What? What the hell did you just say?" Roy asked in a gasp, his features contorting in what was quickly turning into fury. He released Rachel altogether and moved to his father, roughly grasping his mentor by his shirt collar and pulling him closer, his face mere inches from the older man's. "_I_ wanted that kill, Ollie! It was _mine_!"

What infuriated the redhead even more was that Oliver seemed less than concerned that Roy had been denied vengeance and was, instead, choosing to focus his attention on...the back of Rachel's cloak? Roy turned, following his gaze, and narrowing it as his eyes discerned the rather oddly shaped lump attached to Rachel's back beneath the violet fabric. Following the line of the hump, he saw a pair of small feet, and cursed quietly.

"You could have mentioned you had Iris or Jai with you, Rae. Wally's going to kill me if they go home cursing," he muttered darkly.

Rachel turned slowly, her child companion following seamlessly under the cloak to keep them hidden, her eyes slightly wide, and swimming with an emotion he rarely saw in her indigo depths: fear. Apprehension. She shook her head gently, her eyes focused over Roy's shoulder into the blue of Oliver's, as she whispered, "Neither of the Wests."

Roy's brow scrunched in confusion. "Then who...?"

He was interrupted by Ollie choking on the air being breathed into his lungs. "You did it? You actually _did_ it?"

Rachel nodded solemnly and slowly, as if she were coaxing out a frightened animal, she maneuvered her cloak off of her companion, revealing them to the two men in the room. Wide, almond-shaped eyes squinted against the sudden light as they fluttered around the room fervently. Tangled, ebony hair was tugged at with a small fist, as the other hand was tangled securely in the fabric of Raven's dress. Finally, fearful eyes slid to meet Roy's shocked, disbelieving gaze, just as his legs failed him. He fell to his knees, knee caps smacking painfully against the wood floors, but the hero remained ignorant of any pain he might have felt as his brain struggled to process what his eyes were attempting to show him.

"...Li-Lian, baby? I-is that really...?" His eyes darted to Rachel, as if asking for confirmation that he was not insane, that her eyes were seeing the same as his, and a sob escaped as she nodded, her expression somber, but with the barest hint of a smile curving her lips.

Lian Harper stared at her father, her brown eyes narrowing, before her small feet had her skittering toward the comfort of his outstretched arms. "Daddy!" she cried, devolving into a puddle of crying girl in Roy's arms as he gazed down at the top of her head, shifting upward to look at Rachel in a mixture of confusion, astonishment, and disbelief.

Ollie stood back, watching with tears flowing freely down his tanned cheeks with his massive arms crossed over his chest, staring at the woman in their midst with more respect than he ever thought possible. She offered him only a sparing glance, her attention enraptured by the reunion of father and daughter, before her voice finally emerged.

"I am sorry, Roy. I could not be here to heal you, because it was not physical healing which you needed."

He stood slowly, his eyes fierce as he dragged Lian up into arms as he closed the distance that Raven had put between them. He watched as she tilted her chin up to maintain eye contact, and rather than say anything, he expressed his gratitude in the only way he could muster. He leaned down, and sealed his lips over hers.


End file.
